Foundations
by Panko
Summary: Ryan is alone again. Taylor is back in Newport. And it's just basic chemistry. Boy plus girl equals spark. **Slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So this is going to be a little AU. Marissa isn't dead and everyone in the gang is roughly twenty two. The changes in the established universe will be revealed as the story progresses. I don't have a fully formed plan for the story, but I have some ideas.

Now, without further ado:

**Foundations**

They couple sat at the table, emotionless and expressionless, with the candlelight playing off each of their faces. The man toyed with his food restlessly, pushing it to and fro on his plate, while the woman sipped her wine absently. Sporadically, the waiter would appear and inquire after their food, to which they would politely respond, "Fine, thank you".

It wasn't working.

And he knew it and she knew it. They had been together on and off for 6 years and slowly it had happened. They had grown apart and into completely different people. Secretly, he had always known that the day would come. There had always been blaring signs that they would never work, but they had wanted it so badly or at least, they had _thought_ they wanted it.

It just seemed like the natural progression of things. He saved her, she saved him, and a relationship was expected. As they had both admitted once, they had never really done the friendship thing. It had been the immediate jump from strangers to lovers, and for that reason they had never really known one another. But when they were sixteen and oh-so-passionate, none of the great gaping holes in the fabric of their relationship had seemed important.

Until now.

Now, when all the drama and angst that had riddled their teen life had fallen away, they could finally see the cracks in their foundation. There was no chemistry, no spark. Their relationship had turned into that of a friendship, purely stemming from the fact that they had gone through so much together.

And for the first time in a long time, they were on the same page. He looked up from his food just as she drained her glass.

"I think−"

"Maybe we−" He broke off and laughed nervously. "You go first."

She cleared her throat and looked at him. Six years later and sometimes she still felt sixteen, as anxious as she had felt the first time she had ever spoken to him.

Well, she had to do it…for both of them. She squared he shoulders. "I think I can safely say that we both know _it_ just isn't there any more. We've tried for so long to make it work that I think we don't even know why we want it any more. We were different people in high school and maybe we were compatible then and maybe we weren't, but I just know we aren't now. And my intention _never _was to hurt you but I don't want either of us to settle for… this."

He had been turning his napkin in his lap and at the end of her speech, he finally looked up. She held her breath.

"You're right. Obviously."

She exhaled in relief and he laughed at her expression. Some of the tension began to melt away, and he seemed to gain a little confidence from the lightened atmosphere.

He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "It just didn't seem right anymore. Nothing ever seemed to fall into place."

He looked up at her tenderly, grabbing her hand across the table. "I do know I still love you…it's just not the kind of love we talked ourselves into believing it was."

She smiled at him to ease some of his nervousness. She knew he genuinely didn't want to hurt her, and it was for that reason she said the next thing she did. "I'll always love you Ryan. Whether we're together or not. Always. That's just how it's going to be."

They sat in silence for awhile after that. It wasn't everyday that one ended a tumultuous six-year romance. Nevertheless, both would later admit that it had been a far smoother break-up than actual relationship.

Marissa had eventually told him about how she had landed an internship at an Australian fashion label, Sass & Bide, in their Sydney office. Since she now planned to accept the offer, she would leave in three weeks time and would remain in Sydney for eight months. While he drove her home, she talked about her various plans once in Australia to which he would offer occasional suggestions. The awkwardness was present but both were confident it would slowly melt away.

When he finally dropped her off at the Roberts', she gave him light peck on the cheek, which he found to be a welcome change. They said their goodnights and then it was over.

After he left her, Ryan had meant to drive back to the Cohens' where he had been staying for the weekend, but ten minutes later, he found himself down by the pier. Night had just fallen and the air was brisk and cool.

Finally, he was alone with his thoughts and the first thing that ran through his mind was: _it's over._ After six years of blood, sweat and tears, it was finally over. Their weird, codependent, emotionally-draining romance was done with, finished at last. And he didn't even feel slightly regretful. A bit nostalgic, but he knew that was to be expected.

It had been a long time coming, but he had always lacked the courage to break it off. He was grateful now more than ever that Marissa was not shy of confrontation. They had ended it once and for all, and he knew it was the best possible course of action for both of them.

As the night grew darker, the wind began to blow more forcefully around him. He could hear the waves slamming against the pier, and he felt strangely comforted by it all. He shut his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Ryan?"

His eyes snapped open and he turned around. A tall, slim figure was making its way towards him from across the pier. As the figure drew closer, he was able to make out an immaculate white trench coat and long auburn hair. Soon a beautiful girl about his age stood before him, wearing a huge smile on her face looking genuinely happy to see him.

"_Taylor?!_"

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**A/N:** As previously mentioned, I don't have a fully worked-out plot. Thus, suggestions of any and all kinds are very welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **It's been awhile. I'm sorry 'bout the wait (if anyone is waiting, that is) but I hope it was worth it. Still no concrete idea but I've got some tricks up my sleeve. Kind of.

--

"Taylor?! What are you doing here?" Ryan cringed, hearing his words come out. He sounded like a complete jackass. He saw Taylor stop in her tracks, her face falling.

She paused, obviously taken aback by his outburst. Ryan thought he could also detect a little hurt in her voice. She proceeded with a little caution. "Hi Ryan. It's nice to see you."

Seeing her hesitation and knowing it was his fault, Ryan mentally slapped himself. _I'm such a prick._ He hastily rearranged his features into a genuine, if not slightly forced, smile. "Taylor, hi. Sorry about that. I was just surprised to see you. I thought you were in France… or was it Belgium? Switzerland, maybe?

Taylor laughed and Ryan, laughing back, could tell the tension had broken. "Yeah, I've been all over the place for the past couple years. After I finished at the Sorbonne, I did some translation work for a Belgian diplomatic organization. That work took me to Switzerland and then…

As she chatted--_some things never change,_ he thought--he had the opportunity to study her closely. She looked just as she had the last time he saw her, approximately three Chrismukkahs ago with Summer, and to be honest, the way she had always looked − pristine, polished, and in general, flawless.

But there was something different about her, something not entirely physical. In high school and university, Taylor had always seemed rather severe to Ryan, all sharp lines and acute angles. Now it was as if the artist had gone back… blurred the edges a bit, softened her, erasing the severity but adding light.

She was absolutely stunning.

Shaking his head slightly, Ryan refocused on the girl talking in front of him.

She was gesturing wildly with her hands, "…when the German publisher asked for the manuscript in four days _that_ was when I knew that I was done. I was sick of working as a crappy assistant all over Europe when I knew I could be working as an editor back home. So I came back." She smiled at him and Ryan felt himself, rather oddly, smiling back at her. This 'new' Taylor was affecting him, making him feel out of his element. He shook his head as if to clear it.

"So what are you doing now Ryan? Anything new?" Taylor grinned at him expectantly.

_Well, I just ended one of the longest relationships I've ever had and now I feel lost. _Instead Ryan, deciding that the uncharacteristically revealing response might not be what Taylor had in mind, went with something safer. "Well, I just finished doing my Masters at Berkeley, and I've just started work with a new architectural firm which is pretty interesting. Other than that, everything's pretty much normal." Ryan looked up from where he had been staring at the crashing waves to find Taylor with a quizzical expression on her face.

Ryan, feeling self-conscious by her look, asked, "What?"

Taylor shrugged. "It's nothing, really. I'm just surprised at Ryan Atwood describing his life as 'normal'. Tales of cage-fights, obsessed stalkers, and seedy relatives wouldn't have surprised me at all but this…this genuinely shocks me." Taylor grinned again and Ryan ducked his head, slightly embarrassed about his adolescent reputation.

"But…" Ryan looked up to see her gazing at him intently, "…I think a drama-free life really suits you. You seem well-adjusted, very stable. And that's more than I can say about most people." She continued to look at him for a piercing moment before dropping her gaze once more. The two of them went back to watching the waves in silence for a few minutes.

Feeling it was time he said something, Ryan blurted out, "So how are you adjusting to the weather?" He wanted to slap himself again. He couldn't even string together a decent sentence to make polite conversation with her. He really was terrible with words.

Nevertheless, even if Taylor did think the question futile, she didn't show it. She grinned sheepishly, "Actually, I got in from the airport this evening. I decided to get some air before I went to meet my mother. I hadn't realized it was so late…"

Ryan chuckled at the expression on her face, an amusing mix of fear, courage, and resignation. "I don't blame you. I can definitely see why avoiding Veronica Townsend can quite easily become a prolonged effort. She's, uh... really something else." She looked down, snorting softly. There was a pause and when she finally looked up, she smiled at him again.

His throat felt dry and Ryan couldn't help but swallow nervously. There was that feeling again. It felt foreign but familiar at the same time

Once again silence descended on the two of them. As Taylor turned to look out at the ocean, Ryan slowly began to identify how exactly he was feeling. It the way he used to feel a long time ago: when he first came to Newport, when he first bonded with Seth, when he first met Marissa, when he first went to Berkeley. All of them firsts, all incredibly exciting.

It was the thrill of potential in the air that was filling his lungs. Infinite possibility, chance, and opportunity pervaded his very senses. They were his for the taking.

The feeling began to fill him up, a long-awaited breath of fresh air. It had been a long time since he had felt hopeful for something--anything at all, in fact. Taylor had awakened something in him, something that had been dormant for too long. But now he could feel _it_ again and he knew that the foundation was being laid down for something new, something exciting.

And as Taylor closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, Ryan couldn't help but follow… one possibly-life-altering breath at a time.

--

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Oh and I will try to be better about updating. Promise.


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